Dalbert Pringle
It seems that every, single time I see Steve McQueen in any movie (be it from the beginning, the middle, or the end of his career), I always end up asking myself - "How the hell did this dull, non-charismatic bloke ever become a big-name star?" I find McQueen to be one of the blandest, insincere and unconvincing actors of his (or any) generation. Far from being what I would consider a "cool" dude, McQueen really had a tendency to grate on my nerves with his blah character portrayals.And if having to endure McQueen's dreary screen-dynamics was bad enough, I think that when it came to the depressing and absurd nature of this film's story, the viewer would have to be pretty dense and mighty gullible to take its utter nonsense at face value.From my point of view, this film's only really worthwhile moments were the unintentionally hilarious scenes where McQueen (who was unconvincingly playing an ex-con with a mean, hair-trigger temper who's now trying to make it as a rockabilly singer) lip-syncs during his live performance on stage at the town's local hot-spot.Man, you wouldn't believe how really bad McQueen was at lip-syncing. Not only could he not get his mouth in sync with the words, but the voice of the real singer did not suit McQueen at all.Ha! What a laugh-and-a-half! McQueen was so pathetically bad that I couldn't help but burst out laughing.Set in the town of Columbus, Texas - This clichéd "rebel-without-a-cause" story really sucked. I thought that its title "Baby, The Rain Must Fall" was very unfitting, since all of the troubles (rain) that fell on McQueen's character were clearly brought on by his own stupid actions.P.S. - Had this film not starred McQueen, then, yes, I might have actually rated it somewhat higher.
jjnxn-1
Beautiful performances from Steve McQueen and especially Lee Remick highlight this rather sad rambling film of the type Hollywood doesn't make anymore. A small personal drama that explores the lives of regular people just struggling to make a place for themselves in the world. Nothing blows up, it's all about emotions here. Horton Foote's screenplay, based on his play, shows his customary understanding of how people react and interact with each other while Ernest Laszlo stark black and white cinematography evokes the dusty small town Texas setting in a way color never could. Something that you'd find either on the indie circuit or maybe on cable today certainly not in major markets as this was and hardly with stars of this magnitude.
bkoganbing
The team that brought you To Kill A Mockingbird has also given us Baby The Rain Must Fall another southern based drama though the protagonist is hardly as admirable as Atticus Finch. Steve McQueen and Lee Remick star in this film as a married couple trying to make a new start in life after McQueen is released on parole from prison.McQueen is a musician/singer of sorts and while I doubt he could have a career in big time country music, he doesn't have the talent to make the really big time. You won't see McQueen at the Grand Ole Opry, but he could make a respectable living doing the honky-tonks if it weren't for an ungovernable temper. In the few instances we see it displayed we never do see exactly what sets him off, the film might have been better if we had, we might understand McQueen more.But the temper is a given and he's on parole. A wife and a daughter who the people of his Texas home town have never met and don't know the existence of, have come to join him. Lee Remick is the patient and loving wife, but she's coming slowly to the realization that this just isn't going to work.Don Murray plays the local sheriff and a childhood friend who does what he can for McQueen. It's interesting to speculate whether Remick and Murray will get together afterward. Paul Fix has the same kind of part he did in To Kill A Mockingbird as a kindly judge. If James Dean had lived this would have been a perfect role for him. But McQueen who had a background of foster care, who was a product of the social welfare system raising him, had a lot to draw on for his performance.Steve McQueen did his own vocals though country singer Glenn Yarborough had a hit from the title song. Better that way then to have a real singer doing it lest the viewer think this guy has the talent to make it big. Although this is not as good as To Kill A Mockingbird, writer Horton Foote and director Robert Mulligan did a bang up job in Baby The Rain Must Fall.
TRRkey
I totally agree with the writer who said this and "Sand Pebbles" are McQueen's finest, my favorites anyway. I can't think of anything that would have made this film better from the casting, realistic dialogue and locations, and especially the hopeless nature of the characters, their relationships, which are driven home, I think, all the more by the deliberately laconic pacing. Windblown people on a windblown landscape! I am sure that McQueen didn't have to dig very deeply to conjure up his approach to this part given his background. I first saw this movie over 40 yrs. ago and it touched me then and still does. I particularly like the scene in which he confronts the loud bar patron, for I have worked as a club musician and singer for many yrs. and it very profoundly projects the angst a performer feels when they are attempting to communicate a feeling and are ignored {or in this case beaten up}. Don't let the slowness of the action fool you, that's how things move in a small prairie town. Watch and listen closely because there are a whole lot of things going on in this great story, maybe not always on the surface all the time.
AD
